The present invention relates to data cartridges, where a cartridge grip assembly is gripped by a user and inserted onto an exposed end of a cartridge housed in an applicable opening in a PC to extract the cartridge. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ergonomic data cartridge grip having a user friendly gripping portion in which a user grabs the gripping portion of the data cartridge grip assembly thus preventing strain on hands and fingers of the users. The design is especially useful for those users who must insert and extract the often heavy and large data cartridges on a consistent basis.
In general, insertion and removal of cartridges from data units of a PC is done manually. The user grabs the cartridge with the fingers. Insertion and removal of the cartridges which are fairly large and heavy, requires considerable strength and repeated insertion and removal may cause strain to the hand and/or fingers.
Therefore, a need exists in the art for a cartridge grip to overcome the foregoing problem. Particularly, there is a need for a cartridge grip that avoids straining the hands and/or fingers during insertion and removal of the data cartridges from the data drives of a PC.
It is an object of the present invention to meet the above-described needs and others. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a data cartridge grip assembly having an ergonomically designed gripping portion.
It is a further object that the gripping assembly aid in safety and ease of operation in inserting and removing the cartridge from the data drive, in that the ergonomic design reduces the likelihood of straining the hands and/or fingers during cartridge insertion and removal.
It is still another object to provide an ergonomic cartridge grip with a gripping portion that can either be comfortably used with a vertical data drive or a horizontal data drive.
It is still another object to provide an ergonomic cartridge grip where the thickness of the grip can be changed to accommodate varied cartridge heights.
An additional object is that, in providing an ergonomic cartridge grip being of such material, not to mar the surface of the grip, the surface of the PC, as well as to protect the cartridge itself.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows or may be learned by those skilled in the art through reading these materials or practicing the invention, the objects and advantages of the invention may be achieved through means recited in the attached claims.
To achieve these stated and other objects, the present invention may be embodied and described as an ergonomic cartridge grip having an upper half and lower half held by screws and having a resilient locking feature.
A gripping portion is located opposite a cartridge shelf. When the user grips the gripping portion of the cartridge grip and inserts the cartridge shelf of the grip onto an end of the cartridge, the cartridge shelf and locking feature connect with the cartridge and the user easily inserts the cartridge into the drive or pulls the cartridge from the drive. The ergonomic nature allows for easy insertion and extraction with a force that minimizes and/or prevents strain to the hand and/or fingers of the user.
The cartridge shelf aided by the elastic locking member accepts the cartridge to be inserted or extracted. The elastic locking member acts as a locking means which includes a cam surrounded by an elastic tubing or O-ring that is positioned on either side of the shelf and connected to the upper and lower half of the grip by pins and screws. In a preferred embodiment, the O-rings allow for adjustment to the thickness of the cartridge grip, i.e., fewer O-rings allow for a thinner device. As the grip is pushed onto the cartridge, the cam wheels rotate back slightly in the direction of the gripping portion and opposite the pushing direction, thus allowing the cartridge to nest in the shelf of the cartridge in a reception end portion. When the user pulls the grip, the cam wheels rotate forward opposite the direction of pulling and towards the cartridge, thus holding the cartridge in place. In order to remove the cartridge, simply push the cartridge towards the grip which releases the cam action and allows the grip to be removed.
Further, the user may insert or remove cartridges housed in both vertical and horizontal data drive units comfortably and with ease.
Another embodiment may include the locking member which acts as a locking means having an elastic tubing surrounding the cam wheels rather than the preferred O-rings.